The ALS Association says it has received more than $48 million in Ice Bucket Challenge-related donations since July 29. That's up from $2.1 million during the same period last year.

Cassie Barber, executive director of the Huntsville-based ALS Association of Alabama, said she senses the Ice Bucket Challenge will be the "turning point" to finding a cure for the paralyzing neuromuscular disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

For the first time, said Barber, people all across America who have no connection to ALS and asking about the disease and offering their help.

Earlier this week, she said, the postal worker who delivers mail to the ALS Association office on South Memorial Parkway walked in and asked, "What is ALS?"

"The next day, he brought in a check for $100," Barber told AL.com Thursday. "It's just unlike anything we've ever seen. It's nothing we could have planned, and everything we could have hoped for."

Because of the momentum surrounding the Ice Bucket Challenge, she said, Saturday's Walk to Defeat ALS at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is expected to draw more than 1,200 people and raise more than $200,000 for ALS research and patient care.

Registration opens at 9 a.m.; the walk is scheduled for 10 a.m. at HudsonAlpha's double helix-shaped McMillian Park. You can register in advance at www.alsalabama.org or in person on the morning of the event. Registration is free but donations are encouraged.

HudsonAlpha is located at 601 Genome Way in Cummings Research Park.

Barber said organizers are bringing in "thousands and thousands of pounds of ice" for walk participants who want to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. The premise is simple: film yourself being drenched with a bucket of icy water, then challenge three friends to do the same. Anyone who chickens out is supposed to give $100 to the ALS Association.